VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Five women are facing new charges connected to a massive coupon fraud scheme that sent a Virginia Beach couple to prison.
Federal prosecutors say the husband and wife, who were sentenced back in 2021, were held accountable for operating one of the largest coupon fraud schemes ever discovered in the country. Now, we're following through on the case that shocked the country.
Bud Miller is the Executive Director of the Coupon Information Center, a group that works to combat coupon fraud daily. He says as new details on the case emerged, he was taken aback by the sheer scale of the scheme.
“We were quite stunned as it just kept on getting bigger and bigger and bigger,” said Miller.
Watch previous coverage: Feds accuse Virginia Beach husband and wife of multimillion-dollar counterfeit coupon scheme
Lori Ann Talens and Pacifico Talens were sentenced to 12 years and 7 years in prison, respectively. The couple was running an elaborate $31 million coupon scheme from their Virginia Beach home.
Federal authorities say between April 2017 and May 2020, Lori Talens fraudulently designed, created and distributed counterfeit coupons and sold them over the internet to individual customers and coupon enthusiasts. During a search of her home, the FBI says they found thousands of counterfeit coupons, rolls of coupon paper and coupon designs for more than 13,000 products on her computer.
“She was a very skilled graphic artist. She also knew how the barcode system works. She was, frankly, the industry's worst nightmare. She had all those skills wrapped up together. That made her a particular threat,” said Miller.
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Now, five more women are facing conspiracy, mail and wire fraud charges. The women charged are as follows: Sherise Williams of Palmetto, Florida; Amber Teague of Louisville, Kentucky; Jennifer Snyder of Lavon, Texas; Melissa Apodaca of Thornton, Colorado; and Cindi Swindle of Jacksonville, Florida.
News 3 reached out to attorneys for all the suspects.
"Amber is a hardworking and devoted mother of three who has never been in trouble with the law and has no criminal record. I look forward to defending Amber against these charges," said attorney Diane Toscano, who's representing Teague.
Prosecutors allege each woman paid Talens for counterfeit coupons. They said Williams paid Talens over $19,000 in 274 transactions, generating a $1.3 million loss to retailers.
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Law enforcement says the others had dozens of transactions with losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“We are very, very pleased that some of her most active alleged clients have been arrested,” said Miller.
Miller said his organization first spotted the fraud. They even did an interview with Talens and heard her explain how her scheme worked and why she did it.
"She looked me straight in the eye and she said, [I did it] for the money," said Miller. "There is really no hesitation in her answer about that."
Experts say the counterfeit coupons are sold on the dark web and social media sites. Some people use them to buy products, then go on to sell them at garage sales or online.
“Everybody gets hurt by coupon fraud, even if you don't use coupons,” said Miller.
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Experts added that fraud makes it more difficult for legitimate coupon users because stores to have to increase security and even raise prices for products when they face large losses.
“It really is problematic. The good thing is that the technology in the industry has substantially evolved since the Lori Talens case,” said Miller.
In addition to new technology, there's also a new app developed to help retailers detect fake coupons — something Talens herself said would thwart fraud schemes.
"During the interview I asked her, 'What could the industry have done to prevent your scheme from working?'" said Miller. "She looked at me and said, 'You need an app where you can immediately detect counterfeit coupons.'"
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He said law abiding citizens have nothing to fear and the simplest way to avoid problems is by never paying for coupons.
“I’m hoping the word gets out that you can be prosecuted if you are purchasing and using counterfeit coupons,” said Miller.
The women facing charges will be tried in Norfolk.
